It’s road trip week on Football Friday, four of our local teams are playing out of state, which unfortunately means we will not have footage from those contests. But we do have two area teams playing a little closer to home.
Belleville East vs. Metea Valley
Metea Valley is the lone home team this week and that actually was a recent development. The Mustangs were scheduled to travel south to take on Belleville East, but instead they are playing host to the Lancers. Metea defeated Belleville East on the road back in 2019.
The Lancers control the pace in the first three quarters of the game through the power of their running attack. Moisey Trimble with his second touchdown of the night as Belleville takes a 14-3 lead after three quarters.
The Mustang gets the offense going in the fourth. Logan Frederick with a quick pass to Jalen Johnson who powers his way into the end zone to put MV down 14-9 with under 10 minutes to play.
After a defensive stop, Frederick drops back on 2nd and long and drops a dime between defenders into the arms of Jalen Johnson. The track star breaks into the open field and glides in for six. Mustangs take a 15-14 lead with under five minutes to play.
Under a minute to play for Belleville East. QB Darrion Millender with a desperation heave down the field, but look who is playing deep safety! Logan Frederick with the interception to clinch the victory. Metea Valley wins on its home turf for the first time since a win over Wheaton North in 2016. A huge win for the Mustangs who improve to 1-2 on the season.
Benet Academy vs. Brother Rice
Benet Academy is on the road this week, but just about an hour away at Brother Rice. The Redwings picked up a big win last week out west in the Quad Cities over Moline by a 23-21 score.
The Crusaders are always one of the toughest matchups in the state and this game would be no exception. As the sun sets in the backround, Brother Rice reciever Khary Shaw takes the handoff on the end around. He cuts back to his right and darts into the end zone for the opening score.
Now in the second half, Brother Rice pulling away as running back Aaron Vaughn plunges into the end zone to put the Crusaders up 35-0.
Benet plays hard until the final whistle. Quarterback Anthony Picciolini with a great pass to Pierce Walsh who makes an outstanding grab against tough coverage. The Redwings avoid the shutout but cannot avoid the road loss.
Scores and Standings
Let’s catch up on what happened in our out of state matchups. Neuqua Valley defeated St. Mary’s in Missouri by the score of 26-21 to stay undefeated. Naperville Central fell in a nail-bitter to Detroit Catholic Central by the score of 17-14. Naperville North dropped its second in a row following a 42-14 loss to powerhouse Woodhaven in Michigan.
Waubonsie Valley picked up win number one in Ohio over Shaker Heights 23-19. Dekalb also won big over Belleville West.
In the CCL/ESCC Green Division, Nazareth fell to 0-3 after a loss to Marist. Notre Dame lost to Mt. Carmel while St. Rita will take on Loyola on Saturday.
We finally get into the conference portion of the schedule in week 4. Metea Valley with a fourth consecutive home game against Dekalb. Naperville Central visits Waubonsie Valley and Neuqua Valley is on the road for a third straight week at Naperville North.
Benet Academy also has a third straight away game and the road does not get easier at St. Rita next week. Meanwhile Notre Dame welcomes Nazareth Academy to town.
So after a strange week where our teams were scattered across the midwest, it will be exciting to see what the conference slate has in store. We’ll see you next week! For Football Friday, I’m Justin Cornwell.
